Tech Clusters Powering the UK Digital Economy

Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer Welcome Launch of Tech Nation

(Thursday, Feb 5th) The Prime Minister David Cameron and the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne today welcomed the launch of Tech Nation, the first comprehensive analysis of the UK’s digital technology clusters. Tech Nation is an interactive data project that demonstrates the growth of digital clusters across the UK. It brings together extensive data via a report and interactive online guide. The project has been developed and curated by Tech City UK, the government-backed organisation focused on accelerating the UK’s digital economy, in partnership with DueDil.

Tech Nation’s in-depth analysis reveals the strength of the UK’s tech clusters in driving national economic growth. It confirms that the exponential growth of digital businesses is a phenomenon reaching far beyond the capital.

Significant findings:

● Digital job growth is predicted to outperform all other occupation categories by 2020

● 1.46 million people are currently employed in the digital industries

● Clusters with the highest average company turnover are Greater Manchester, Belfast, Sheffield, Inner London and South Wales

● 77% of digital companies within clusters say they benefit from access to a network of entrepreneurs to interact with and to share ideas

On the launch of Tech Nation today, Prime Minister David Cameron comments, “Backing the industries of the future is a key part of our long-term economic plan to support business, create more jobs and build a more resilient economy. The digital economy has become an integral part of our country and the rapid growth of many digital businesses has confirmed Britain’s position as a global hub of technology excellence. We are committed to supporting the growth of our digital industry nationwide and Tech Nation shows the great innovation and thriving entrepreneurial spirit that is driving the sector forward across the country”.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne said: “The UK is a world leader in the technology and digital sectors and what’s so exciting about today’s Tech Nation report is that it shows how we’re seeing the growth of tech businesses right across the country. As part of our plan for a truly national recovery we will do everything we can to support this growth and back the different tech clusters that are emerging around Britain.”

Developed and delivered by Tech City UK, with key community partner, DueDil. Tech Nation is the first time the UK’s digital businesses, areas of specialism and employment figures have been comprehensively analysed.

Tech Nation is the result of analysing data derived from multiple sources including:

1. Survey results of over 2,000 digital businesses across the UK

2. An online interactive guide to over 47,000 digital companies, (developed with DueDil), allowing the user to search by industry, capability, location or business name

3. 40 interviews with local entrepreneurs and professionals from across the UK digital business community

4. Digital employment data from Adzuna and CareerBuilder

Baroness Joanna Shields, Chair of Tech City UK and Digital Adviser to the Prime Minister, comments, “The UK is recognised on the world stage for its tech and digital strengths. Today’s report reveals the depth of the sector and the complex array of skills, specialisms and strengths that truly make us a Tech Nation. The unprecedented level of detail and analysis of business starts, revenue and job growth give us a first hand view of the clusters and businesses that make up the UK digital economy. We are a Tech Nation and we hope this project will inspire innovation and growth for years to come.”

With 1.46 million digital jobs existing across the country and 74% of digital businesses operating outside of London, the report demonstrates the UK’s digital business revolution is a nationwide growth story.

Gerard Grech, CEO Tech City UK, said, “I believe our findings will help inform policy-makers, investors and the wider business community about the sheer breadth and depth of the UK’s digital prowess. This is the first time that the UK’s digital clusters have been so thoroughly analysed, revealing their strengths and importance to the digital economy. It shines a powerful spotlight on how far we’ve come in the digital tech sector, and where we are heading.”

Damian Kimmelman, Founder of DueDil, comments, “The data from the Tech Nation interactive online guide shows that the opportunity for digital to change the economy isn’t just coming from tech giants such as Google and Amazon. Growth in the sector is happening across the country in businesses large and small. DueDil tracks these companies over time and I predict we will see a lot more in the next few years.”

Along with a detailed breakdown of the tech clusters, Tech Nation also analyses employment data across the UK (Figure 1).

Tech Nation is the start of a nationwide initiative delivered by Tech City UK. This will include regular data analysis and reporting of the UK’s rapidly evolving digital economy. Alongside DueDil other community partners included CareerBuilder, Adzuna, Crunchbase, AngelList and f6s.

We started life in 2010, with a mission to support the emerging Silicon Roundabout tech cluster in East London. Anchored in Shoreditch, we’ve grown into an organisation that accelerates the growth of digital businesses at all stages of their development, in London and cities across the UK. Examples of our programmes include FutureFifty, Digital Business Academy, Tech Nation and the Internet of Things Launchpad.

A publicly funded organisation with a private sector mentality, we advocate for the digital entrepreneur. We inform policy-makers on how to foster the right conditions to start, grow and scale a digital business in the UK. We aim to make life better for digital entrepreneurs.

Dubbed “the Bloomberg of unquoted companies” by the FT, DueDil is the one of largest sources of private company information in Europe. It has a huge database of more than 45 million companies.

DueDil is a research tool primarily used for B2B lead generation and credit risk management. Since its inception in 2011 it has raised more than $25m from respected investors including Oak Investment Partners, Passion Capital and Notion Capital.